Al Nabooda expansion enters key phase

Dubai, October 29, 2013

Al Nabooda Automobiles has entered a key phase in a Dh900 million ($244.9 million) investment programme to expand its Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen operations in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

A Dh120 million facility combining Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen showrooms and workshops will open in Sharjah next month, while work is still under way on a new Dh144 million Porsche showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, said a statement.

Construction is also set to start on Audi workshops in Dubai at a cost of Dh133 million within weeks, with the completion scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2014.

On receiving final planning approvals, construction will commence on a Dh256 million vehicle pre-delivery centre and paint and body shop on a 130,000 sq m site at Jebel Ali, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, a Dh85.5 million facility combining Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen showrooms and workshop is scheduled to open in Fujairah before the end of this year.

“To create such a wide range of new, world-class facilities for our brands is a major undertaking from a planning and construction point of view, but everything is coming together very nicely,” said K Rajaram, CEO, Al Nabooda Automobiles, the sole distributor for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

UAE-based Al Sahel Construction was awarded a Dh90 million contract to build the new 20,812 sq m Porsche Centre Dubai, scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2014.

The showroom will display up to 50 new vehicles on three floors and will also feature 15 work bays, tyre service and wheel alignment facilities, with parking for 205 vehicles on two basement floors.

With a total built up area of 29,000 sq m, the new three-level Audi workshop in Dubai, located close to the Mall of the Emirates, will house 68 vehicle work stations. An adjacent Volkswagen Express workshop will have facilities to service 12 vehicles at any one time. - TradeArabia News Service